Choosing Your Commander - Naya

We next look at the white/red/green ccolor combination, otherwise called the Naya shard.  These commanders are actually all quite straightforward in the types of decks that they offer oppotunities to build, yet they are definitely unique in what they can accomplish and the directions that they push you in.

Hazezon Tamar:  Hazezon is a token generating machine that is perfect for decks that are already trying to ramp out a lot of lands.  There is an interesting timing trick due to how he is worded, in that you don't get the tokens until your next upkeep.  Therefore if you remove Hazezon before then, when his 'leaves play' ability triggers the Sand Warrior tokens won't be around to be exiled and your opponents will have to kill them the hard way.  What you do with those tokens is up to your imagination...

Jacques le Vert:  He would be much more interesting if he said taht green creatures got +2/+2 or even +2/+0, but +0/+2 seems a little meh.

Johan:  Johan is a mediocre creature with a mediocre ability.



Mayael the Anima:  The Naya shard in Shards of Alra had a "5 power or greater" theme that Mayael picks up and takes to a new level.  With all the various library manipulation cards plus creature tutors that put the card on top of your library, you are basically assured of hitting something worthwhile with every activation.  Being card advantage and fast mana (in a sense) make Mayael a pretty good commander once she gets going.

Palladia-Mors:  Other than Nicol Bolas' "Mind Twist" ability, Palladia-Mors is probably second best with good ol' fashioned Trample. 







Rith, the Awakener:  Under the right circumstances, Rith is killing one player with general damage while helping you assemble a Saproling army with which to kill the rest of the table.  It's not a flashy way to go, but I have seen it be very effective when done right.









Uril, the Miststalker:  Uril is one of the best 'Voltron' commanders in the game.  There are tons of really good enchantments you can put on him making him nigh unstoppable.  Since he plays well with enchantments, he is often paired with an 'Enchantress' subtheme to generate card advantage and to make the deck really click.  He is definitely one of the premiere commanders in the enitre game and the best in the Naya colors.

Choosing Your Commander - Jund

Next, we look at one of the more interesting three-color combinations in black/red/green, otherwise known as the Jund shard.  These colors have a lot in common in that they love to sacrifice things and then recur them from the graveyard for reuse later.  Of all the color pairings, Jund is probably the most inherently destructive combination, capable of destroying any type of permanent either one at a time or en masse.

Adun Oakenshield:  Adun is a pretty good general for any deck that really wants to recur its creatures.  Although there are already decent option in these colors that do that (namely Oversold Cemetery and Genesis), it can be nice to have this kind of effect always at the ready if your deck depends on it.

Bartel Runeaxe:  A vigilant 6/5 that cannot be enchanted is actually not that bad for 6 mana, but he is just purely outclassed by tons of other cards at that mana cost.

Darigaaz, the Igniter:  Darigaaz is a fine dragon, capable of dealing lots of damage and giving you a nice excuse to attack the player sitting with tons of cards in their hand.  My issue with it as a commander is that general damage only counts combat damage, so his ability becomes somewhat irrelevant.  Still sometimes you will hit 40 faster than 21 on any given player, especially if that player is that open to being attacked by Darigaaz in the first place.  It's also nice to have a built-in punishment against players with humongous hands thatnks to Command Tower or Praetor's Counsel.

Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund:  Having Haste and 7 power makes him a good candidate for being able to kill players with general damage at least some of the times.  His ability to steal opposing Dragons is interesting, but moreso is his ability to steal back a Dragon that others may have taken from you.  There are also lots of exchange control effects that would allow you to give the opponent a Dragon you control, only to steal it back later with Karrthus.  It's a shame that most of the exchange control cards and creature type changing cards (Imagecrafter would be perfect) are blue, but there are a few out there worth looking at.









Kresh the Bloodbraided:
I like Kresh on several different levels.  The first is that he is inexpensive to play, so you can guarantee being able to play him at least once or twice a game most of the time.  The second is that his ability is indiscriminate and doesn't require you to jump through a lot of hoops to utilize as you are basically being rewarded for something that you want to do anyway; kill opposing creatures and sacrifice your own creatures for profit.  Third is that he is a very real threat to kill players via general damage due to how big he can get.  Kresh is a very simple and straightforward general that ends up having lots of strategic depth due to how many different ways you can use and abuse his ability.

Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper:  Sek'kuar plays right into the same themes that Kresh and other Jund cards like to follow; sacrifice your stuff for fun and profit.  I think that there are better commanders suited for that purpose, but Sek'Kuar is excellent at supporting that theme in any deck that can run him.  There is also the possibilty of running some sort of Shaman themed deck that focuses on creature sacrifice and recursion, and I think there would be an interesting spot for him in an Elemental themed deck doing the same thing.

Vaevictis Asmadi:  The upside is that when he connects, he connects for a ton.  The downside is that like the other 'Elder Dragons' he just costs too much for what you can get nowadays.

Xira Arien:  If Wizards were to print this card nowadays, it would be blue, black and green instead of red, black, and green.  I like that it can target any player so that you could target an opponent if need be.  I think Xira Arien misses the cut due to the fact that you can get much more card advantage for less of a mana investment with other cards as your general.

Choosing Your Commander - Grixis

Next, we will take a look at the blue/black/red color combination, otherwise known as the Grixis shard.  If all three colors had to decide what they had in common, it would be tough to say.  One thing is that they are all th ecolors of discard spells, with black taking the lead.  They all also identify with their weaknes to enchantments.  Overall, there isn't a lot of identity to Grixis, but there is definitely a lot of power.

Crosis, the Purger:  Crosis is fairly decent at what he does, although being in the same colors as Nicol Bolas its hard to compete with his discard ability.

Garza Zol, Plague Queen:  Garza Zol has a few nice things going for her.  Haste, evasion in the form of Flying, and the Ophidian ability are all huge upsides to a 5/5 creature for 7 mana that make he owrth playing.  The +1/+1 counter ability is definitiely something to build around, especially since it counts any damage and not just combat damage.  Equipment such as Livewire Lash and Thornbite Staff can help Garza Zol deal damage without combat and allow her to grow.  Garza Zol isn't flashy, but she is definitely efficient and potentially deadly.

Gwendlyn Di Corci:  Gwendlyn is not bad, but her ability isn't really good in multi-player.

Lord of Tresserhorn:  Lord of Tresserhorn demands a steep price be paid when you summon him, and managing that cost is key to keeping him happy as your commander.  The lif loss is not an issue, and the giving an opponent two cards can often gain you some political capital in the process.  It's the sacrifice of two creatures that can sometimes make him very hard to cast profitably.  You are getting 10 power for only 4 mana, so there is definitely some upside to work with. 

Mishra, Artificer Prodigy:  Mishra has an absolutely fantastic ability that would be great to build around.  Unfortunately, the "highlander" nature of the format makes him unplayable.

Nicol Bolas:  Most of the Elder Dragons only see play for nostalgic value, but Nicol Bolas has risen to a higher plane of awesomeness compared to his fellow bretheren.  Being able to Mind Twist someone on contact is one of the more brutal abilities given to any creature.  With a cool backstory that includes Nicol Bolas now being a Planeswalker scheming for power on multiple worlds, it is no doubt that a Nicol Bolas themed deck can be both powerful and interesting.










Sedris, the Traitor King:
Sedris is awesome.  Giving you a built-in reanimation for all your creatures in the graveyard can be brutal, even if it is only temporary.  You can use him to make your opponents have to run through your army twice, or you can self-mill yourself and live out of your graveyard.  Sedris also works well with creature sacrifice effects as you can get double use out of them.

Sol'kanar the Swamp King:  In my Top 5 as far as best names go, Sol'kanar is actually quite an efficient package for Legends card.  5-power for 5 mana, Swampwalk and a small lifegain ability is pretty decent when all added together.  Its just not commander material.

Tetsuo Umezawa:  Known more for his Jitte than anything else, Tetsuo Umezawa suffers from "other creatures do the same thing only cheaper"-itis. 

Thraximundar:  Thraximundar is great because he not only keeps the field of play clear of critters but he also plays right into your own creature sacrifice theme to grow large and start taking out opponents with general damage in 1 or 2 swings.  Thraximundar and Sedris have a bit of overlap in what they are trying to do sacrifice-wise, and I think they would compliment each other no matter how you build your deck.

Choosing Your Commander - Esper

We now get to the meat and potatoes of the Commander format; the 3-color commanders.  Not only are some of the best 'build-around-me' generals 3-colors, but they also offer some of the best flexibility for spell selection.  The first we will look at is the white/blue/black combination, also referred to as the Esper shard.  This color combination is interesting in that it wants to play well with enchantments and artifacts, and it has one of the best of each type of commander in the entire game.

Chromium:  Being one of the original 'Elder Dragons' gives Chromium a bit of clout just based on coolness factor, and "Rampage: 2" is actually not that bad of an ability.  For the most part, you aren't playing Chromium for his stats or efficiency.

Dakkon Blackblade:  Very cool card that actually has potential, but it suffers from a lack of good color identity.  If it had any green in it, it could be awesome (although Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer is probably still better and its in the right color).

Dromar, the Banisher:  Dromar is an okay general, but it doesn't really do anything too exciting.

Ertai, the Corrupted:  I actually like this version of Ertai, except that sacrificing an enchantment or creature is not really worth the mana savings over the original Ertai, Wizard Adept.  Gaining access to white and black's token making abilities can help offset that a lot, and the added flexibility of having those colors available is really nice.  I think that if you are looking for a commander to lead you WUB control deck, then perhaps Ertai is a good choice.

Halfdane:  Halfdane is pretty high on the coolness ladder, in that there are all sorts of interesting shenanigans that you can pull to make him temporarily huge and swing for a lot of general damage.  My main complaint about Halfdane is that those shenanigans are actually quite hard to pull off, and the overall benefit is actually not that great for a creature that lacks evasion.

Lady Evangela:  Using my commander slot to Fog a single creatuer each turn seems like a huge waste to me.

Merieke Ri Berit:  Worse than just outright destroying stuff is stealing stuff and using it against the person who roiginally cast it.  Merieke will win you no friends, but there is something to be said for the power to steal a creature on demand.  It is also a huge benefit that if Merieke gets killed the creature she stole also gets killed, and that the creature-stealing effect doesn't require Merieke to remain tapped so it can be used multiple times.  Combine her with some untap effects, and you can ensure that every creature summoned will end up on your side of the board.









Sens Triplets:
Because of the rule that a deck cannot generate mana outside of its colors you cannot play your opponent's red or green spells with Sens Triplets, so its usefulness can be limited seeing that green is one of the most played colors in the game.  Still, being able to play a land, artifact, white, blue, or black spell will come up enough that Sens Triplets can net you lots of cards and at the same time deny your opponents lots of cards in the meantime.  The scramble to destroy Sens Triplets can be interesting to watch since it has to live till your next upkeep, but the real fun begins when nobody can remove it and the politics start between your opponents as to who they think you should target.

Sharuum the Hegemon:  Next to Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Sharuum is probably the second best combo-ready commander in the game.  When combined with Sculpting Steel or Phyrexian Metamorph you can create an infinite loop of Sharuum and Sharuum copies going to and from the graveyard, and you can use the loop to trigger Disciple of the Vault or for a huge Gravestormed Bitter Ordeal to knock out an entier table of players at once.  You can also make infinitely large Glassdusk Hulks or Arcbound Crushers if you actually want to take a combat step to do it.  There is also the capability to just ignore  the infinite combos and use Sharuum to reanimate large artifact creatures (or just high casting cost artifacts in general) and win with card advantage.  Either way, Sharuum is one of the premiere commanders available and will be strong no matter what way you decide to go.




Zur the Enchanter:
Greetings Starfighter.  You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Zur and the Kodan Armada... okay so you aren't a Starfighter, its Xur not Zur, and you are defending your kitchen table and not the Frontier, but Zur the Enchanter is still just as big a villain.  With powerful enchantments such as Necropotence, Propoganda, and Solitary Confinement at the ready, you can dig in and get Zur set up for the long haul.  You'll need to protect Zur, but you have Auras such as Pemmin's Aura to help.  You also have plenty of disruptive options such as Oblivion Ring, Seal of Doom, and Arcane Laboratory.  Zur can be a deadly force if left unchecked and is definitely one of the better commanders available in the game.

Choosing Your Commander - Golgari

Last, but definitely not least, of the enemey color pairing color combinations is black/green.  Both are the colors of regrowth and graveyard recursion, board control effects, and the traditional colors of mid-range "Rock" strategies.  Golgari decks seek to do a lot of what some Commander format traditionalists see as the heart of the format; play fair, accumulate resources, and throw haymakers.  There are definitely several commanders available in these colors that will allow for that type of game if you choose it, and of all the enemy two-color pairings black/green has the most options with ten.

Glissa, the Traitor:  Glissa is not an easy commander to utilize, but she is definitely one of the more fun options to try and build around.  First off, you must ensure that you can trigger her ability in the first place, meaning that a)your opponents must have creatures and b) you must have a way to kill htem at opportune times.  Normally in multi-player games, your opponents having creatures ready to be killed is not a problem, but there are ways to give your opponent creatures to help along the cause.  After that, playing black's many ways of offing critters can help trigger her when you need it.  After that, its up to you to make sure her triggers don't go for naught, as you can recur things as ugly as Mindslaver to something benign such as an Urza's Bauble.  Once you get that recursion engine going, you just need to make sure its worth your while to jump through the necessary hoops to keep it going.

Iname as One:  Pretty cool card that is prohibitively expensive for something whose first trigger doesn't even count when you cast it from the command zone.  Unfortunately, this all but makes it unplayable.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord:  Jarad is one of the better recently released commander options from Return to Ravnica, and it plays right into what a lot of people are already trying to do with their black/green decks.  With built-in recusrion, a built-in sac outlet, a pump ability that feeds off of your rapidly-filling graveyard, and a damage ability that affects all opponents all wrapped up into one compact package, its hard to go wrong with Jarad. 











Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:  If you are looking for a commander who combos well with discard effects, Nath might be the best out there.  You aren't getting a huge payoff for your troubles, but even a modest theme can net you just enough benefits to make it worthwhile.  Combine him with something like Memory Jar and you potentially have seven new 1/1 Elf tokens for each opponent you have. 

Rhys the Exiled:  Due to Rhys having a black mana symbol in its activation cost, he is a black/green card as far as color identity go.  I am not relly a fan of Rhys the Exiled and much prefer his GW Redeemed version.

Sapling of Colfenor:  I think this is a great support card for a different deck to take advantage of, namely something like Doran, the Siege Tower. 

Savra, Queen of the Golgari:  Savra is decent at what she does, but if you just want to gain life or control creatures then there are better options.

Sisters of Stone Death:  Again, if its just for creature control you have better options, but at least the Sisters give you the option of stealign the creature outright.  If casting this and activating its abilities didn't cost so much, then this might be a worthwhile thing to consider.  As it is, its not very good.

Skullbriar, the Walking Grave:  Skullbriar interests me in the fact that his ability is truly unique in the game and that it violates one of the basic rules of the game.  I'm not sure that I would use him as my commander, but he seems to be tailor-made to do so since he will maintain his +1/+1 counters while bouncing to and from the command zone.  It's unfortunate that bounce effects and tuck effects are plentiful in the format and that those reset his counters, but I guess every card has its weaknesses.

Vhati il-Dal: Nice when combined with a pinger or other effect that deals with X/1's efficiently, but as I've said before its not good enough if it only helps with creature control (and even then, if it only does part of the job).

Choosing Your Commander - Izzet

Next up is the powerful blue/red color combination.  Of the enemy color pairings, the Izzet guild probably has some of the most powerful options for commanders available.  Red/blue are traditionally both spell-centric colors, but combining red's agression with blue's control elements can often be a good pairing.  The Izzet color pairing is also very good at combo decks, utilizing blue for card draw and red for various fast mana effects.  As you will soon see, red/blue has two of the best combo generals available in Jhoira and Niv-Mizzet, both of which rank up in the top 10 commanders in the entire game for shear power.

Jhoira of the Ghitu:  Jhoira is one of the more feared generals in the game for her ability to suspend a highly volatile threat such as Obliterate and follow it up with a suspended large creature (often an Indestructible menace like Ulamog or Blightsteel Colossus).  Once you start looking at ways to take advantage of Jhoira, its hard to not get greedy and totally abuse her ability.  To make matters worse, your opponents will often just assume that you are packing the worst case scenario for them and try to eliminate her (and you) on sight making using her in more benign ways more difficult.  The nice thing about Jhoira is that you can wait till you have 5 mana open to play her and suspend a spell before an opponent can remove her, and that there are lots of cards that you can run that will tick those four time counters down faster to speed up the process.  Any way you look at it, Jhoira is one of the top generals available in the game.

Nin, the Pain Artist:  Cards like Nin make for some interesting choices, not only during deck construction but also during play.  Pinging your own creatures for profit (especially ones that were going to die anyway) is definitely one way to get ahead, although Nin's ability is expensive and its not like blue and red are lacking for card draw.  Using it on your opponent's creatures has some strategic and political implications.  If you are trying to help someone, they may apprecaite the extra cards.  However, if Nin is part of a larger strategy to deck an opponent, then Nin serves double duty as both creature kill and win condition.  In that regard, its somewhat unfortunate that Nin is not blue/black instead of blue/red so that she could headline a milling deck.

Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius:  Unlike the original Niv-Mizzet, the Dracogenius is far less combo-licious and far less desirable as a general.  But for those that are looking for a red/blue control general, its nice to have the Dracogenius as an option if for no other reason that he doesn't carry the stigma that the Firemind has.


Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind:  The original Niv-Mizzet probably has one of the most well-earned reputations as the poster-child for abusive infinite combo decks in the Commander format.  When combined with Curiosity or Ophidian Eye, you can essentially draw your deck and deal damage to your opponents equal to the size of your library.  Combined with Mind Over Matter you can do the same thing, except that you have the opportunity to make the loop boundless by including one of the Eldrazi somewhere in your deck that when discarded will shuffle your graveyard back into your library.  Even without the infinite combos, there are plenty of effects in blue that draw cards, and several in both blue and red that can draw them up to seven at a time.  Any way you slice it, Niv-Mizzet is a damage and draw engine that is second to none, and showing him as your commander will make you public enemy number one.  I personally love what potential Niv-Mizzet has outside of infinite combinations, so when we explore making decks I will probably make both a "cutthroat combo" version and a "non-combo" version that seekes to play a little more fairly and not care about just resolving one of its infinite combo pieces.  I think that playing without these infinite combinations would not only be more fun but it would lessen the stigma associated with running him as your commander and perhaps lessen the hate thrown your way.

Tibor and Lumia:  Compared to all of the other options you have available, Tibor and Lumia are tame and unexciting.

Choosing Your Commander - Orzhov

Next up is the black/white color combination.  Often seen as the most diametrically opposed color pairing, black and white actually have a lot of things the do very similarly.  Both colors are good at eliminating creatures with both pinpoint effects and mass removal, both colors gain life (albeit in different ways), and both colors are very interested in reanimating creatures (again, done in different ways).  With only four possibilities, there isn't very much depth to choose from and unfortunately none of the choices is truly outstanding.  Of the ones available, only Ghost Council really looks interesting for making a deck around.

Ghost Council of Orzhova:  Ghost Council is known best for what he doesn't do in that he doesn't stick around when you set off one of the dozens of Wrath effects that black and white have available.  In the process, he pings an opponent when he pops back into play ready to do it again given enough sacrificial fodder laying around.  Cards like Sacred Mesa and the normally awful Security Detail become quite ueful in making sure that Ghost Dad is fat and happy, but there are also lots of good token making permanents in Bitterblossom, Mobilization and Infernal Genesis.

Selenia, Dark Angel:  Cool name, decent card, not a good commander.

Teysa, Orzhov Scion:  So playing with an effect that makes all your creatures black (Darkest Hour comes to mind) will mean that when your creatures die she will always produce 1/1 Spirits and that even when those 1/1 Spirits die she will continue to spit out spirits.  Darkest Hour turns off the first ability, but really who cares once you can amass a giant Spirit army.  Its a cool interaction that may be interesting to include in a larger deck (perhaps a Ghost Council deck that has a built-in sac outlet), but I don't think there is enough there to warrant building an entire deck around it.

Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter:  A protected Vish Kal can be very dangerous.  Having Flying and Lifelink is pretty good, and combined with the power to grow with every sacrifice you give him makes him a candidate for dealing 21 general damage pretty quickly.